A bipartisan approach to cyber

As the threat of cyberattacks continues to grow, government officials are asking what can individuals and businesses do to protect themselves.

“We are starting this conversation of when it is time to go on the offensive as it relates to cybersecurity,” said Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga 14). “This creates a lot of policy, ethics and privacy questions.”

Graves and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz. 9) heard some answers to those questions during a panel discussion they held at Georgia Tech Monday. The bipartisan event examined how public policy can help people and companies go on the offense to defeat and unmask cyber attackers.

In March, Graves put forth a discussion draft of a bill to allow the use of limited defensive measures to identify and stop attackers. While cyber policy discussions are taking place in Washington, Graves said they wanted to hear from others.

“Quite frankly we’re not satisfied with the direction of where policy has gone as it relates to cybersecurity,” he said.

Monday’s panel allowed for a robust discussion on cybersecurity from a policy perspective, an academic perspective and the private sector perspective.

In addition to Graves and Sinema, the other panelists were:

John Lens, a vice president for the Network and Security Business Unit at VMware.

Stephen Pair, co-founder and CEO of BitPay.

Peter Swire, the Huang Professor of Law and Ethics in the Scheller College of Business.

Candace Worley, chief technical strategist for McAfee.

Georgia Tech is a place “where government, industry and universities can come together to talk about some very, very challenging problems in the world,” said Stephen E. Cross, the Institute’s executive vice president for research.

The Institute has been developing cybersecurity solutions for more than 20 years. Tech houses nearly a dozen labs and centers dedicated to cybersecurity, and has more than 450 scientists, faculty and students involved with this research.

Georgia Tech is also home to the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state’s technology incubator. ATDC is currently incubating seven companies in the cybersecurity space and assisting 33 entrepreneurs and early-stage startups statewide with entrepreneurial education in cybersecurity.